Monday, May 07, 2007

A librarian should always spare non-librarians from hearing their actual job titles. No one cares that you are the "Coordinator for Interlibrary Loan, Resource Sharing, and Document Delivery Services." Saying "librarian" will be sufficiently boring.

Ask the readers: Share your unusually long (yet official) job title in the comments section below.

Non-library-folk at our institution thought the "Head of Technical Services" was in charge of setting up slide projectors and installing computer software, so the job was re-titled "Head of Collection Information Services". Us library folk can never remember the new title, so he's "The artist formerly known as Head of Tech Services".

lorem ipsum, you crack me up. Who would have thought a librarian could have such a well-developed sense of humor. Usually they're just full of themselves. Okay, maybe that's a gross generalization, but the two librarians I have the dubious distinction of being personally familiar with are condescending, whiny, negative know-it-alls who are in their 40's and still rely on their parents to help pay the rent. They also get together with other nerds to play D & D. Maybe that's colored my perception of librarians in general. I may have to revise my thinking after stumbling upon this quirky, but funny, blog.

"Referencerian" is great! I don't really have a job title except librarian, but I used to call myself a "cybrarian". A friend of mine is "library vice director" - I like that, because "vice" has two meanings.There was a great "job title generator" for LIS professionals at http://lamar.colostate.edu/~mach/jobtitles/realjobs.html#Z, but it is no longer online. If you know where it moved to, please tell me.

At one point in my life I was the Assistant Director: Reference and Information Services.

(That was at an institute on an academic campus, but not immediately related to the school. And you know how a dissertation has to have a colon in its title before it it's accepted? I think that's why I had the colon. I always wanted to replace that colon in the middle with an "of" or "for" or something. I look at it now as a kind of spastic colon.)

Assistant Librarian, Document Delivery and Audio-Visual Services. Really, that's what it said on the library structure and my appraisal forms. My boss had the title "Sub-Librarian, Document Delivery and Audio-Visual Services, Staff Library". No ampersand, and no apology for having the prefix 'sub' in her job title. I don't work there anymore...

At one time I was Senior Information Development Worker, which sounded (and felt) like I was responsible for shuffling the bus timetable leaflets in a twilight home. Then I moved into my present job. Which is just like being responsible for shuffling the bus timetables in a twilight home... sigh.

Well, I'm ALMOST a librarian... and in the meantime, I'm the "Director of First Impressions." I used to be the "Systems and Communications Coordinator" for one person in our office, but then they decided they all needed me, so now I'm at the front desk. It all means "secretary."

I have high hopes of soon becoming an actual librarian, with a title and all...

I'm a Knowledge Navigator. I have a sign on my desk saying: 'The Doctor is in' (or 'out' when I'm away). Often feel misunderstood when clients treat me as if I was their therapist, just because I lead them to answers to their questions.Does the work of librarians overlap with that of therapists, I ask you?As for your blog: "O" for Awesome.

I usually just use Librarian. But officially it's Adult Services Librarian. But, I also catalog, do PR, update the website, and make our graphics. At one point I made business cards that said Reference, Cataloger, Pr, & Grapics Librarian. However, in the next couple years I'm supposed to do Marketing full-time so I made up new business cards that just say Marketing Librarian on them, hoping to make the transition faster.

anonymous:Librarian/Office helper/ secretary/guide/nurse/cataloger/book filer/ mother/ listener/ host/ fixer/ book buyer/and many other. Who doesn't wear many different hats. Especial librarian. Some more then other,but we all have patron to look after.

I try to correct those who call me a librarian to let them know just because you work in a library, doesn't mean you're a librarian. I'm actually flattered when I get called a librarian. :D But my official title is "Circulation Services Assistant" which normally gets shortened to "circ asst."

Ha! Laura, that cracks me up. I get the archivist/architect thing all the time.

Haven't been called an alchemist yet, but I think I'm just going to start telling people that's what I do. :)

My full title is Archivist, Digital Asset Manager and Quality Specialist. (I do QA/proofing in addition to my archiving duties.) One of my coworkers joked I should just put "I know where stuff is" on my cards.

Reference, Instruction, and Curatorial Assistant. It won't fit into the "Job Title" space on most forms.

The ironic thing is that "Curatorial Assistant" does not actually mean that I flounce around dusting rare items. It means that I order books that my boss selects, and keep track of our funds. I should really try to get a new title approved before the next person who has that job tries to fit it on her business card.

I've watched the eyes of many non-librarians glaze over when I give them my full title. I almost feel the need to apologize for sounding pretentious, like what I do is so much more complicated than what they do for a living. I usually stick to "librarian" and if they ask what I do, then I figure it's their own fault for asking.

The corporate librarian crowd always wants to disguise their "librarian" affiliation to the head honchos in order to avoid discovery and elimination from the overhead costs. In this spirit or misdirection our "Corporate & Technical Information Center" basic job titles were "Information Analyst", with Senior or Principal as a prefix for "promotion" purposes.

Well as they won't let me put Super Genius on my business cards, I just go with Library Director. However, I did tell my Page to put Assistant IT Director on his resume, and another assistant to put Summer Reading Coordinator,Talent Scout and Handler on hers. 'Cause that's what they did/do!

I'm a Librarian in Training but my current title (longest ever) is Arts and Sciences Academic Resource Center Student Support Services Coordinator of Academic Assessment and Data...yeah. I just go by Data Manager.

Technically, my title is "Acquisitions and Processing Archivist." I usually just go with Archivist, since that inevitably needs explanation and by then, no one is interested in the nuances of my job description. *sigh*